The White Witch
Fabric and Sillhouette

Jadis' first six dresses (Turkish Delight, Ice Castle,
Sleigh, and Smoke, Parley, and to an extent, Deep Magic Regalia),
while uniquely made and colored, have the same distinct technique
for fabric and the same general shape.

Fabric

"The fabric we created for her dress is directly
related to ice images... . The first layer is a velvet
dyed with resist areas for a modeled look. The second
layer is felted wool and silk. The raw materials were
dyed and then felted to fit the shape of each dress.
The sheen of the silk is what gave us icy lines and begins
to create the depth. The final layer is the lace.
This is metallic thread and organza pieces, also dyed, sewn
onto a burn out fabric. We would draw the ice crackle
from a small scale to a larger scale at the hem of the dress.
This gives us the illusion of height, she is a giant.
Then a seamstress would machine endless amounts of thread
over the lines and finally we would burn out the back.
Each panel was made this way for all of the six dresses.
Once the lace was ready we would hand sew it on to the felted
dress and then and only then the dress would truly come
to life. Tilda use to comment on how amazing it was
when we would lay on that last layer. It was always
a little piece of magic."

The lace is obvious - it seems to appear like a fine chain stitch
all over the dress like a web. Nearer the hem the lace spreads out
to a larger area, and we start to see the organza pieces in ice
shapes, bordered by the lace. See tips for recreating the fabric
in the Construction section.

Some of the best images we have of the fabric, that show the layers
and details, are below. Hold the mouse over some of the image for
insight as to what the picture is. Since we don't have a running
commentary during the behind the scenes, we can only speculate as
to the process and the materials there.

felted wool and silk? for Deep Magic gown - there's some
kind of bottle containing a liquid to be sprayed on the wool

close-up of Deep Magic regalia wool

Close-up of wool at similar stage for another gown - Ice
gown, perhaps?

sheets of lace and organza pieces hanging

wool drying on rack - either predyed or for Parley gown

Shape

Bodice

The dress is formed so that it seems to retain its shape. The bodice
is stiff from neck to waist, where it is fitted to below the hip.
It's shaped like a cone up from the waist. The portrait neck is
cut straight across, rounded out from the neck. Note the way the
fabric folds up around the bodice in some instances, for example,
here (ultra high resolution).

Especially so on Ice and Parley, the curved back neck stiffly extends
up and off the back.

Our one glimpse of the corset is in this image. The Illustrated
Movie Companion shares that the corset kept Jadis' posture so stiff
that she could not sit down very well while wearing it.

Super high-rez images ~ courtesy
the Photobox

Sleeves

The neck curves around the shoulders and forms short sleeves. These
sleeves extend out, broadening the shoulders, and taper down to
the arm. See notes on Deep Magic's sleeveless cut on its own
page.

Skirt

We get a small glimpse of the crinoline in this
image. The width, length, and train varies from dress to dress.

Super high-rez images ~ courtesy
the Photobox

Seams

As to seaming, we know that the dresses were handstitched, so that,
as Isis Mussenden explains in the Movie Companion, one could walk
around Tilda 360 and not see any seams. As to the actual pieces,
we can see some seams on what looks like the wrap that is holding
the skirt up. Whether this is actually the underside of the skirt
itself or not we don't know. It looks to be princess seamed, whatever
it is.